On behalf of Peru Profundo Dance Company, we would like to congratulate director Mitch Teplinsky on his achievement with his film Soy Andina which screened this Saturday and Monday nights at the Chicago Latino Film Festival. Since learning about Soy Andina in 2004, we were in contact with Mitch letting him know that we were anxious to see the film in its completion and hoping it would come to Chicago someday. This weekend our wishes came true! We saw the long-awaited film and we met Mitch and his wife Doris personally. Touching to us all, the film depicts a true passion about Peru's diverse culture and folklore by Peruvians and the children of Peruvians. We even had the chance to host them and share a Peruvian dinner and pen~a dancing where Mitch and Doris learned more about our family and the roots of Peru Profundo here in Chicago. There were two particular themes in the movie which I personally found to be the most meaningful. One of them is the question that Nelida's sister asks: "Is there a place in the world where families don't separate?" clearly showing the difficult experience of many Peruvian families who not only leave their provincial towns to move to Peru's capital of Lima for work, but then leave Lima to immigrate to the U.S. for better opportunities, thus leaving a great distance between themselves and their roots. The second was when Cynthia realizes that her experience trying to learn Peruvian dance in a dance school in Lima is dissatisfying and she discovers Peruvian dance by visiting small towns, festivals and learning from families who carry on the dance tradition. To me, this is the true soul of Peruvian dance--the experience of its culture, its people and its music in its authentic environment--not necessarily getting a diploma from a dance school. Lastly, I congratulate Mitch on creating a positive and inspiring film for Peruvians and children of Peruvians to continue passing on the legacy of Peruvian dance and folklore on to next generations while also welcoming non-Peruvians to connect with these global themes of family, identity, and community. Sincerely, K.